'A Bristol coach company introduced the world's first express coach service, linking Bristol with London. Travel back in time to the days of Greyhound and Morning Star' The Greyhound coach that zoomed passengers from Bristol to London in a mere eight hours in 1925, was the first to make the through run since coaches were pulled by horses. Greyhound was one of a number of coach companies competing aggressively for the growing market for long distance travel, and it scored a major coup with its fast London run. Just £1 return for the longest through route ever attempted to a timetable. These were no mere people carriers but what the company called 'Luxurious travelling parlours', albeit with solid tyres and a speed limit of 20 mph. These long distance coaches were first tested along Ladies Mile on the Downs by placing three tumblers of water in the gangway. If no water was spilled, the coach was accepted. One of the first drivers on the route, Ted Bryant, recalled l eaving Bristol at 11 a.m. and getting into Hammersmith London after seven that night. 'But they were really beautiful buses and everyone was so helpful and polite. In those early days, we had quite aristocratic passengers'. Ted also took out the first Bristol bus to be equipped with a radio, as far back as 1926. It worked well when the bus was standing still but reception vanished on the move. Trips weren't always incident free either - inspector Bill Lander remembered being delayed in Calne when a pig escaped from the bacon factory and became caught beneath the hot exhaust pipe. On another occasion, the radiator boiled over and passengers had to carry cans of water from a nearby RAF station. Greyhound ran two coaches a day to London, leaving at 9 am. and 11 a.m. via Bath, Marlborough, Newbury, Reading and Maidenhead. The earlier one travelled via Chippenham and stopped for refreshments at Newbury The second went via Devizes and had a break at Hungerford Wiltshire. The company originally offered a ticket from Bristol to London for just £1.. In 1927, the luxury travelling parlours were replaced by super deluxe buffet coaches, upholstered in red antique leather with smoking and non smoking sections. Each seat had a folding table, windows were curtained and there was a steward's pantry for tea, cigarettes and chocolate. There were also on-board toilets but these were removed after a year because passengers found using them was 'somewhat hazardous'. Greyhound had a competitor in 1928 in the Super Comfort coaches introduced by Morning Star of Lawrence Hill. The Leyland Lioness coaches were painted in sumptuous scarlet and cream and ran via Warmley, Wick and Marshfield to Chippenham, Marlborough, Newbury and Reading. An early review of the new service pointed out that the Lioness had the same type of chassis as that supplied to the King, while the clutch was designed by racing ace j. C. Parry Thomas. The 29.9 hp engine ( 58 bhp ) prov ided 'remarkable' acceleration and ample power to get up steep inclines like Tog Hill. The only problem, an unnamed Bristol reporter wrote, was that the coach was so comfortable, passengers were tempted to fall asleep instead of enjoying the unrivalled scenery, 'To travel to London by road may be a novelty to those who are inexperienced but to business men in a hurry or to people who desire the health-giving air and the exhilaration of speedy and reliable motoring, the new Morning Star service is undoubtedly a blessing' he added. 'Those who try it as a new sensation will adopt it as a permanent means of journeying to the Metropolis, for it combines safety, speed, comfort and cheapness'. And if you think an eight hour trip to London is hardly of much use 'to businessmen in a hurry', bear in mind that even modern coaches used to take more than six hours along the A4 before the M4 opened fully in 1971.
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